Handley v. Dennis’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 2 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The Public Defender has a duty under the law to represent indigent mental patients in hearings to determine the need for continued involuntary placement. § 394.467(4)(e) and § 27.51(l)(d) Fla. Stat. (1991). In such cases, the duty of the Public Defender is a legal and professional duty that is owed to the patient as a client. The Public Defender serves as an independent advocate for the patient, not as a neutral party charged with the responsibility of determining the best interests of the patient or the needs of society. [[Image here]] Nothing in the guardianship law can change this obligation the Public Defender has to her client. [[Image here]] If the patient wishes to be released or transferred and if there is a basis for that request, the Public Defender has a duty to advocate the cause of the patient. [[Image here]] Likewise, the Public Defender may argue for the release [or] transfer of a Baker Act patient even if that is not the wish of the patient’s guardian.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 85 So. 3d 1164 - Auxier v. Jerome Golden Center for Behavioral Health